21 July,2017 08:36 AM IST | Mumbai | Noel D'Souza
Bengaluru FC's ace India striker says Sunday's selection is not the ideal situation for any player as he should have the right to choose his own team
Bengaluru FC striker Sunil Chhetri has led from the front ever since he joined the team. Pic/BFC Media
The fate of as many as 200 players will be decided on Sunday at a city hotel in Mumbai during the Indian Super League (ISL) draft. ISL regulations allowed clubs to retain only two of their senior players from the 2016 squad in addition to retaining up to three U-21 players to fill up the development player quota. The much-talked about draft, rolled out by the Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), organisers of the ISL, earlier received strong opposition from the Football Players' Association of India (FPAI).
ISL were helpless
This ISL season's new entrant Bengaluru FC's ace India striker Sunil Chhetri, who has been retained along with winger Udanta Singh, strongly feels that this should be the last time a draft takes place in Indian football.
"It is not the ideal situation for a player because he should have the right to choose the team he wants to go. Even the ones organising the draft know that this is not the best option. I've been told that this has been done to felicitate the new team Jamshedpur FC so that all teams are on a level-playing field," Chhetri told mid-day over the phone from Bangalore yesterday.
Indian players unhappy
It is also learnt that many Indian players, who are part of the playing XI, were not too pleased with the ISL draft. A well-known player, on condition of anonymity said that he, along with his teammates initially wanted to oppose the draft, but faced a roadblock when they heard that some other players were unhappy with their club's salaries and preferred to give the green signal to the ISL draft with the hope that it would fetch them more moolah.
"With such a divided opinion, we just couldn't go ahead with our resistance. We had no other choice than to accept the terms and conditions of the ISL Draft," the player said.
Meanwhile, Chhetri, who was the joint second-highest goal-scorer with seven hits for Mumbai City FC in the 2015 edition, hoped that every player is satisfied with his
new club.
"I was talking to a few players and they had their apprehensions. I just hope every player gets the money he deserves," he added.
